Stretchable face mask



April 1953 c. c. LO PRESTI 2,634,725

STRETCHABLE FACE MASK Filed March 20, 1951 HVVENTDR.

M ALMA 10mm Patented Apr. 14, 1953 STRETCHABLE FACE MASK Charles 0. LoPresti, Astoria, N. Y., assignor to I United States Rubber Company, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 20, 1951,Serial No. 216,597

This invention relates to stretchable porous masks adapted to fitclosely over the low portion of the face and chin and around the neck,to hold a handkerchief or filter pad over the nose and mouth of theperson wearing the mask.

Various occasions may arise in which it is desirable to retain ahandkerchief or filter pad over the nose and mouth, to filter the airthat is being breathed or to filter the air that is being exhaled fromthe respiratory system.

The mask contemplated by the present invention may be worn to hold ahandkerchief or filter padin place over the nose and mouth while thehousewife is cleaning or dusting a room, or when one has a cold andwants to avoid exhaling germ laden air into a room where there are otherpersonsor such mask may be used on many other occasions to maintain ahandkerchief or filter pad in place over the nose and mouth.

The present mask was developed primarily for use as a piece of civildefense equipment which is small, compact and inexpensive and can easilybe carried bygreat numbers of persons for protection against the effectsof an atomic bomb explosion, where the mask can be used to retain ahandkerchief or pad over the face to keep the wearer from inhalingradioactive dust or mist. Having this use in mind the mask is simple inconstruction and is'ada'pted to befolded into a verysmall and compactpackage. 7 It preferably made to stretch both longitudinally andtransversely so thatit will fit satisfactorily the face and neck ofvarious size persons, in order that one size mask, due to its stretch invarious directions will fit various size adult persons, and make itunnecessaryto provide different sized masks for different sized persons.

The mask contemplated by the present invention is made of porousstretchable elastic fabric. It is made porous so that it will notinterfere appreciably with the breathing of the person wearing the same,and it is made stretchable both longitudinally and transversely so thatit will accommodate itself to the size and shape of the lower portion ofthe face and chin and to the neck of a large or small person wearing thesame.

Such a porous, stretchable fabric may be woven or knitted or formed ofnet lace material, provided it has a substantial amount of stretch bothlongitudinally and transversely.

The mask is preferably formed from one integral piece of fabric cut toform an elongated strip that is several inches wide at the central areathereof and is more narrow towards its ends, to provide two legsextending in opposite direction 2 Claims. (01.128-146) from the centralarea; This central area is preferably cut .and'sewed to form a shallowpocket adapted to fit over the lower portion of the face and chin tohold a handkerchief or pad placed in the pocket over the nose and mouthof the person wearing the mask. The legs J'ust mentioned are preferablysewed together at their ends to forma closed ring comprising the centralarea and legs,.and adapted to encircle the neck and embrace the lowerportion of the face of the person wearing the mask.

The above and other features of the present invention will be furtherunderstood from the following description when read in connection withthe accompanying drawing illustrating one good practical embodiment ofthe invention; and wherein Fig. 1 is a side view of a persons headshowing the mask of the present invention being worn by such person;

Fig. 2 shows a two-way stretch fabric cut to the desired shape ready tobe sewed up to form the mask contemplated by the present invention, andvFig. 3 is an inside view of the portion of the mask that fits over thelower part of the face. The material used in forming the maskcontemplated by the present invention should be a porous elastic fabrichaving a substantial range of stretch'both longitudinally andtransversely, and as above stated may be a woven, knitted or otherwiseformed elastic ,fabric. Such fabric designated by It in the drawing isshown as a two-way stretch knitted fabric such as is formed in a wellknown manner by knitting together non-elastic and elastic or rubberthreads. The elastic fabric is preferably .cut to the general shapeshown in Fig.2, to thereby provide the cen-, tral area formed of the twosymmetrical portions designated by I l, and each of which has extendingtherefrom a narrow strip forming a leg l2. The fabric H3 is preferablyso out as to form the wide V notches [3 at the opposite sides of centralarea H of the mask, so that when the adjacent edges of these notches aresewed together by the seams l4 shown in Fig. 3, a pocket will beproduced of a size and shape to fit over the lower portion of the faceand chin of the wearer of the mask, and adapted to retain a handkerchiefor filter pad, such as indicated by [5 in Fig. 1 of the drawing, inplace over the nose and mouth. The seams M are preferably sewed with anoverlappin zig-zag stitch which will not interfere appreciably with thestretch of the elastic fabric.

It is contemplated that the elongated elastic strip shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing and desig- 3 nated by I ll, will be cut from a much largerelastic sheet, and therefore the edges of such elongated strip will beraw edges. To give these edges a satisfactory finish that will preventthem from raveling they preferably are sewed with a zi zag stitch suchas above mentioned. However, in order to increase the elastic propertiesof the mask of the present invention and to give added firmness to thelongitudinal edges thereof, the very narrow strips it of elastic webbingare preferably provided along the upper and lower edges of the mask asshown and these strips 16 are sewed in place with an overlapping zig-zagstitch IT. This completes the formation of the mask contemplated by thepresent invention except for securing the ends of the legs l2 togetherat the back of the neck by any suitable seam, such as that indicated by[8 in Fig. 1.

The mask contemplated by the present inven stretch suificiently topermit the mask to be placed over the head and then over the lowerportion of the face and around the neck as shown in Fig. 1. When in thisposition the mask should contract with suficient force to remain firmlyin the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 and fits a the facesnugly but comfortably. The pad 15 which may be a handkerchief, or afilter pad formed of sanitary cotton or other fibers, should be largeenough to fully cover the nose and mouth, and it may be simply placed inthe pocket to be retained therein by the pressure the pocket exertsagainst the face, or it may be fastened in the pocket by suitable means,not shown.

The fabric employed in making up the mask of the present invention maybe an inexpensive cotton fabric having sufficient elastic yarnsinterwoven or knitted therein to impart the .desired elastic propertiesthereto, and if the mask is formed as above described by cutting it froman integral piece of elastic fabric, the only s'eams which will beneeded to give the mask the desired shape are those above described.A'mask formed in this manner will be inexpensive to make, light inweight and may be folded into a very small package to be placed in anenvelope which can be readily carried in a purse or a persons pocket atall times so that it will be available in case 4 it is needed to hold ahandkerchief or mask over a persons nose and mouth. Since the ends ofthe legs I2 are sewed together, the mask can be quickly secured in thedesired position upon the face by merely stretching it enough to passdown over the head into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectbyLetters Patent is:

1. A stretchable porous mask for holding a filter pad over a personsnose and mouth, comprising a two-way stretch porous elastic fabric inthe form of an elongated strip that is wide enough at its central areato cover the wearers nose and mouth and is more narrow towards its endto form two legs extending oppositely from such central area, said areahaving along its transverse center line an upper cut-out portion and alower cut-out portion with these cut edges united by seams that givethis portion of the mask a concave configuration so that it fits closelyover the nose, lower portion of the face and chin to hold a pad over thenose and mouth, and a seam securing the legs together at their ends toform a closed ring mask adapted to encircle and embrace the lower faceand neck.

2. A stretchable porous mask for holding a filter pad over a personsnose and mouth, comprising a two-way stretoh'porous elastic fabric inthe form of an elongated strip that is wide enough at is central area tocover the wearers nose and mouth and is more narrow towards its ends toform two legs extending in opposite directions from such central area,said area having along its transverse center line an upper cutoutportion and a lower cut-out portion'with these out edges united by seamsthatgive this portion of the 'mask a concave configuration so that itfits closely over the nose and around the chin, the upper and lowerlongitudinal edges of said strip having a narrow piece of elasticwebbing sewed thereto, and a seam securing the legs together to form aclosed ring mask adapted to encircle and embrace the lower face andneck.

CHARLES 0'. L0 PRESTI.

References Cited in the .file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 2,458,580 Fasketti Jan. 11, .1949 2,565,124 DurborowAug. 21, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,789 Great Britain of1912.

